Caseypatton
Senior Member
This is my second season hunting the mountain for bears killed one Nov 5th last year missed a good one last week is my time running out due to the colder days or will they still move
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Bear hunting when it gets cold
- Thread starter Caseypatton
- Start date
I think bears will be moving less, not because of the cold, but because there's such an abundance of mast crop this year.
chrislibby88
Senior Member
They will stay active until the acorns are gone. Boars especially. Not sure when exactly, but pregnant sows have to den up to birth cubs.
kayaksteve
Senior Member
Been a tough year already for bears. Not for lack of bears. They just don’t have to move if they don’t want and can hide nearly anywhere and have all they want to eat. They’ll still be out and about but a little tougher to find than some years. The later in the year it gets, the harder they are to come by.
chrislibby88
Senior Member
It’s never “too late” either. They get killed in December every year, just not many. I got a nice fat boar a few years ago on a Dec deer hunt on a heavy mast year like this.
WOODIE13
2023 TURKEY CHALLENGE 1st place Team
They will still move, but if you have a lot of mast, they move less. Seen tracks in the snow of a sow and cub in December in the snow, plus more singles that same day, no real hibernation minus the pregnant females.
Our hound season runs to December 31st I believe, then a mountaineer heritage season that's open to bear, deer and turkey mid January with primitive weapons (side/flintlock rifles/shotgun, recurve/long bow)
Our hound season runs to December 31st I believe, then a mountaineer heritage season that's open to bear, deer and turkey mid January with primitive weapons (side/flintlock rifles/shotgun, recurve/long bow)
Killer Kyle
Senior Member
I slung one at a running bear last year just a few days before Christmas. It ain't over until it is over.
tree cutter 08
Senior Member
Usually on bumper crop years like this you won't start seeing them until November. With that said seen sow and 4 cubs yesterday and my cams are starting to finally light up with bears. They will flat mess your deer huntin spots up over the next few weeks. Hot buck sign this week and will be full of bear mess the next.
HardlyHangin
Senior Member
I missed one last year the first Saturday of December
Around here, the sows are usually denned up by mid-late December, but there are still some boars out moving if the weather is nice. Our late bear season here runs from the second week of December until Jan. 1, and there are always several killed during that time. Not as good as the early season, but if the weather is decent, there are still some moving.
crackerdave
Senior Member
I admire anybody who can hunt those hills and drag a fat bear out of there.
Gotta be in good shape!
Gotta be in good shape!
KentuckyHeadhunter
Senior Member
Hunt em til the end. They will become slightly more predictable as mast declines in core areas. Eventually they will have to travel from their safe space and find more.
Professor
Senior Member
I killed mine on December 19th. Could have shot one last year around the 15th.
Resica
Senior Member
Up here with no mast, boars can den as early as October.
The bear season doesn't even open here until mid-October.
HunterJoe24
Senior Member
Weather that’s so cold and miserable you don’t want to go out in is a bears ideal weather. They will be out as long as there is food. They don’t dem because of the cold but because of the lack of food
1eyefishing
...just joking, seriously.
Like trying to drag a waterbed... The wrists and the ankles were too big to get your hand around so you could only reach down there and grab a fistful of fur.
Good thing it was all downhill to the truck.
Bad thing it was ONE MILE to the truck.
Not in wilderness though so was able to use the game cart...
Good buddy to come help at a moment's notice is worth its weight in gold.
I wanted to get one more before my knees couldn't take it anymore. But did that and now I want to get one more...
I hope to put some more effort to it after Thanksgiving during the mountain rut...
Resica
Senior Member
Our rifle season doesn't open till Nov. 18th, only 4 days.
